Saint George and the DragonCastle Diary by Richard PlattThe Knight at Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne
Knight by Christopher GravettKnight ~ A Noble Guide for Young Squires100 Things You Should Know About Knights and Castles by Jane WalkerIf You Lived in the Days of Knights by Ann McGovernCastle:
Medieval Days and Knights By Kyle Olmon

Knights in Shining Armor by Gail Gibbons

Knights and Castles by Seymour Simon

The Usborne Book of Castles by
Lesley Sims and Jane ChisolmWhat If
You Met a Knight? By Jan Adkins Imagine
You’re a Knight by Meg Clibbon Take
Care, Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas The
Knight and the Dragon by Tomie DePaola In the
Castle by Anna Milbourne The Castle That Jack Built by Lesley Sims The Tournament by Heather Amery

I’m a little dragon, strong and stout.
Here is my tail and here is my snout.
If you get me upset, better watch out!
I’ll give you something to shout about!

All Around the Castle(tune: "Pop! Goes the Weasel")
All around the castle
The knight chased the dragon
The dragon thought it was all in fun
ROAR went the dragon!

Come To The
Castle(tune: "Down by the Station")

Come to the castle early in the morning,
See the lords and ladies all in a row.
See the prince and princess leaving in the carriage.
People throw confetti as they go.

Come to the castle early in
the evening.
See the king and queen sitting on their thrones.
See the knights in armor coming in from battle.
See the captured dragons rattling their bones.

Lesson Information

Where in the world did knights live? Knights lived in Europe. Show your student where Europe is on a map. Where
do you live? How could you travel there? How long would it take. Have fun
exploring this.
On your shutterfold, let your student color where he lives (in one color) and
where knights lived (in another color). See sample picture at the top of
the page.

The Life of a
Knight

Page

Began at age 7

Practiced handling weapons

Played games of skill and strategy

Squire

Began at age 14

Became a skilled horseman

Learned how to fight with swords

Learned how to hunt with falcons

Knights

Began at age 21

Was called “Sir”

Was given weapons and a sword

What did
Knights Wear? --Label
the Knight

Helmet—protects the head

Visor—protects the eyes and allows the knight to see out of the helmet

Breastplate—protects the chest area

Gauntlet—protects the forearm

Shin
Guard—protects the shin

Shield—provides moveable protection

What Happened Next?

1.
pyramids built

2.birth
of Christ

3.
knights and castles

4.
Columbus discovers America

5.
Declaration of Independence

6.car
invented

7.man
reaches the moon

What is a castle?A castle is a strong building (fortress) made of stone. It was built
to protect people (the king and his people) from enemies and intruders.

Label the Castle

Drawbridge—retractable doorway that could serve as a bridge over a moat

Portcullis—heavy wood and iron gate with spiked tips

Parapet—low stone wall at the top of the castle towers

Tower—tall area of the castle where guards could look out

Moat—circle of
water around the castle that supplied the people with food and served as
protection

For the majority of the
Middle Ages, you could only be a knight if you were born the son of a knight.
Knighthood was dor
most of the Middle Ages, a man must have been born the son of a knight to become
a knight. Knighthood was given only by members of the nobility.
As knighthood became more expensive (knights had to buy their own horses,
weapons, and armor), rich peasants and merchants wanted to try to become
knights, too. By the 13th century in England, if a many could take
up arms and pay the fee, he was eligible to become a knight. only on
members of the nobility. However, as the costs of knighthood increased (a knight
had to provide for his own arms, armor, horses and retainers) and money-based
economies became more common, rich peasants and merchants began angling for the
title of knight as well. In 13th century England, if a man was free and could
take up arms and pay the so-called "knight's fee," he was eligible to become a
knight.

How
to Become a Knight

1.When
a boy was about 7 years old, his parents sent him to be a page at another lord’s
castle. A page served the lord’s family their meals, learned manners,
received an education (sometimes including Latin) and practiced battle skills
with wooden weapons and horses. (Note: reading and writing wasn’t always
taught)

2.At
about 14 the boy became a squire. A squire was an apprentice to a knight.
He took care of the knight’s horses, polished the knight’s armor and weapons and
practiced horsemanship and fighting with real horses and weapons. He
learned to use a bow and arrow and learned to hunt. He also went into
battle at his knight’s side.

3.Around
the age of 21 the squire became a knight at a dubbing ceremony

,
where he was officially dubbed a knight by his father, his knight or sometimes
even the king. At this ceremony, he promised to be loyal and brave and to
protect his lord, his king and his church. He was then tapped on the
shoulder(s) with a sword and was pronounced a knight.

The Code of ChivalryKnights
were men that were trained for war, but they traditionally extended
courtesy and civility when dealing with their enemies. The ideals they
held dear were turned into a knightly code of conduct—high standards that they
thought showed how a soldier or warrior should behave. Those
standards became the Code of Chivalry. Churchmen liked this idea of high
standards so much that they made the dubbing ceremony a religious occasion,
complete with a church vigil and a purifying bath.

List some of the
ideals that made up the code. (Some sample answers follow.)

1.Protect
the weak

2.Fight
wrong.

3.Seek
justice.

4.Be
loyal to friends.

5.Be
fair to all people.

6.Be
true, gentle, faithful and brave.

7.Honor
and respect women.

8.Be
generous.

9.Dare
to do right.

Where did
Knights Live? Why?The knights that we study most often lived in Europe, specifically in the
Christian lands of Europe. The Christian part of Europe was often called
“Christendom” and the people in this area in the Middle Ages were afraid of the
unknown lands around them and often felt threatened by their neighbors. To
their south and southeast were Muslim nations and to their east were the Mongol
nations. Knights, to the peoples of Christendom, were seen as the
civilized world’s defense against the unknown and the Church encouraged these
ideas, sending knights on crusades to fight Muslims and other non-Christians.

In the Middle
Ages, almost all of the land in Europe belonged to kings. But most
kingdoms were far too big for a king to defend without some help so a he would
split up his land into manors and turn them over to men he trusted (called
barons) to rule each manor on his behalf. A baron swore allegiance to his
king and promised to protect his king and kingdom and send soldiers to fight for
the kingdom when needed. These soldiers were called knights and swore
allegiance to both their baron and their king. Sometimes knights lived in
their lord’s castle. Other times, knights were given their own manors
within the baron’s land to rule and were able to build to their own castles or
manor houses.

The first castles
were more like wooden forts than the castles we’re used to seeing. These
had a keep on a hill with a smaller village-like area below and were surrounded
by a wooden fence and a moat. Enemies didn’t have a very hard time
attacking and destroying these first castles, though, so by the 12th century,
most castles and manor houses were made out of stone and were much easier for
the lord and his knights to defend.

A Knight’s Armor—What did they wear and when?
The most common type of body armor worn by medieval knights was made of mail,
also known as chain mail. It became very popular around the 11th century.
Chain mail is made of many small iron rings, all linked together. No one
knows exactly how chain mail was made, but some pictures show armorers using
pliers to join the links. We do know that the coats were shaped by
increasing or decreasing the number of links in each row, kind of like knitting.
We also know that, as time went on, knights wore more and more chain mail to
protect more and more of their bodies—the sleeves got longer, they wore chain
mail leggings as well. A chain mail coat (also called a hauberk) weighed
about 20-30 pounds and most of that weight was carried on the knight’s
shoulders. Chain mail was flexible and protected a knight against a sword,
but he could still be hurt by an arrow, a dagger or a club.

In about the 14th
century, knights started adding steel plates over the chain mail to protect
their arms and legs and, eventually, iron plates to protect their whole body.
By the 15th century, some knights wore full suits of plate armor and didn’t
worry about the chain mail anymore. A full suit of armor weighed between
45-55 pounds, but the weight was spread out over the knight’s entire body so he
could still run, lie down or mount his horse without too much of a problem.
Although it protected a knight very well, plate armor was still very heavy, very
hot and difficult to put on or take off.

JoustingWhen a knight wasn't busy fighting battle or on a quest, he can
participate in a tournaments and win fame as well as valuable prizes. The
most important tournament event is known as the joust. When a knight
arrived at a tournament, he was required to hang up his shield among the
competitors so that everyone would know who was competing.

Knights used special lances for this that had a blunted end instead of a regular
sharp end. Sometimes there were wooden areas (called tilts) to separate
the knights from each other; this was to keep them from running in to each
other.

In order the win the game, the knight would hold his lance loosely and keep it
pointed just below his target; this helped him keep his eyes on his target.
The knight would receive points based on the following -
One Point - for striking the opponent on the body (illegal to strike on the
head)
Two Points- striking your opponent so hard that your lance breaks
Three Points- if you knock your opponent off his horse

Each joust lasts three rounds. Points may be scored each round. If
even points are scored between players, the joust will be decided by a sword
fight on foot.

Why did knights fight?
Though there were many reasons a knight would go into battle, here are some
popular ones.

1.To
help their king get more land for his kingdom.

2.To
win back land that their king had lost.

3.To
fight for their church and its causes.

4.To
defend their lord’s castle against an enemy attack.

Defending the CastleFirst things first, as soon as an enemy was spotted, the defenders would
pull up the castle's drawbridge. Then they would lower an iron gate (a
portcullis) to form an extra barrier. The archers would fire arrows
through slits in the castle walls and through the gaps in the battlements.
From the top of the castle, wall climbers were met with hot water being poured
on their heads. Sometimes quicklime was also poured; this would make their
skin burn. Heavy stones also rained down on enemies.

Three Steeds
Knights were dependent on their horses, and rich knights had at least three!

1. Palfrey- this was the knight's riding horse. He used it to go on
an adventure or to ride to war (in order to keep his war horse rested).
2. Destrier- this was the war horse. These horses were not afraid of
the noise of battle because they were specially trained. Some of these
horses could bite and kick! A well- trained war horse was worth a lot of
money. Some war horses had armor; the headpiece was known as the shaffron.
3. Pack Horse- this was the horse a knight used to carry his equipment.
Some knights had multiple packhorses in order to carry all their baggage.

Heraldry
Heraldry was the entire system governing the use and creation of the coat of
arms. When a knight went into battle, no one could recognize him.
The coat of arms was very important as it told knights friend from foe on the
battlefield. There were very strict rules governing who could use what
pictures or symbols and how they could be drawn. Learn a bit about this
system by matching the shield flap books with their proper names and then
designing your very own coat of arms.

Bible VersesWhen
discussing armor, read Ephesians 6:10-17 and talk about our spiritual armor.Famous Knights ResearchThere are various famous knights (some real men and women, some fictional)
who are well known throughout history. Have your student research one or
more of the following knights: King Arthur, Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, Sir
Gawain, Sir Gareth, Sir Tristan, Richard the Lionheart, William Tell, Joan
of Arc, The Black Prince, Don Quixote, Rodrigo Diaz, Roland, Teutonic Knights,
Sir William Marshal, Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein, Saladin, etc.)

VocabularyVocabulary Cards and Pocket have been included for you to use for new words
you encounter through the course of your unit.